Obituary

Daniel Stewart Grant Rome died unexpectedly on September 28, 2020 at his home in Burlington, Vermont. Dan was born on September 25, 1985 in Berlin, Vermont, and grew up in Montpelier and Worcester, Vermont. Dan leaves behind a large family whom he loved dearly, including his parents Elizabeth Grant and Steve Norten, of South Burlington, Vermont and Alan and Gale Rome of East Montpelier, Vermont; brother Jonathan Rome, sister-in-law Elizabeth Rome, and niece Olivia Rome of Minneapolis, Minnesota; brother Andrew Rome, sister-in-law Morgan Rocissono, and niece and nephew Harper and Warren Rome of South Burlington, Vermont; step-sister Juliana Westcott and brother-in-law Brian Aust of Moretown, Vermont; step-sister Chloe Norten of Grand Isle, Vermont; brother William Norten and sister-in-law Emily Norten of Los Angeles, California; step-grandfather Paul Beattie of Hyde Park, Vermont; as well as numerous uncles, aunts, and cousins.

Dan lived a full life. He loved to travel. He flew helicopters in Hawaii; worked on farms in New Zealand; learned to surf in Jacksonville Beach, Florida; fought forest fires in the Redwoods in California; traveled to Europe; and spent years living in California and the western United States in various places such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Kings Beach, California, Bend, Oregon and Whitefish, Montana. Dan also loved Vermont, and was happy to have been home in the last year before his passing.

Dan was a great athlete with amazing balance and coordination. He grew up skateboarding in Central Vermont and snowboarding at Stowe Mountain and Sugarbush, and continued those passions into adulthood. Dan competed in professional snowboarding events around California. He seemed to know every skateboarding, surfing, and snowboarding spot from Mendocino to Santa Cruz; and from Lake Tahoe to Mammoth Mountain. He recently spent time in the skateboard park on the Burlington, Vermont waterfront, encouraging and coaching younger skaters with their first attempts and triumphs. Dan’s brothers remember trying to ski and snowboard behind him at Mammoth Mountain in California in a heavy snowstorm and being successful for about twenty seconds before Dan disappeared off to the side of the trail and into the trees. They made their way slowly down the mountain in knee-deep snow, only to find Dan at the bottom with a mischievous grin, chatting with a buddy from Australia who was working as a lift operator. This is how his family pictures him now, doing what he loved most—snowboarding deep in the backcountry of the Sierra Nevada somewhere between Mammoth and Lake Tahoe.

Tragically, in August 2019, Dan was the victim of a hit-and-run accident as a pedestrian in northern California, which caused extensive injuries and a stroke, and temporarily halted his once active lifestyle. In November 2019, he returned with his parents to South Burlington, Vermont to begin his rehabilitation. Dan was supported by the extraordinary care of the UVM Medical Center, particularly the professionals of the UVM Medical Center Rehabilitation Therapy Team at the Fanny Allen Campus, with whom he continued to work as he learned to walk again. He was also supported by those providing Traumatic Brain Injury services at the Howard Center. His family wishes to thank these fine professionals who supported him as he attempted to regain his independent life.

Dan was a musician, and was passionate about music throughout his life. He was a talented guitarist, and, in the last year, he learned to compose music electronically via web platforms. He wrote songs for two recently released albums under the moniker mzarome, which are available on Spotify, SoundCloud, and iTunes.

Most importantly, Dan was a kind and generous person. He had a great sense of humor and loved talking with people — a true extrovert. Dan was a social magnet who connected with people of all walks of life. He made a point of reaching out to homeless people wherever he went. He was curious to explore his spiritual development, as evidenced by his readings of Rumi and Tolle, among others. Dan also cared deeply about his family, and was a loving son, grandson, brother, cousin, nephew, and uncle to his young nieces and nephew.
His family misses him terribly and will love him always.

Donations may be made in his memory to either the UVM Medical Center Rehabilitation Therapy Department, 790 College Parkway, Colchester, VT 05446, or to the Howard Center, 208 Flynn Avenue, Burlington, VT 05401.